A message on Memorial Day to all military men and women!

I wrote a comment on another forum, started by a civilian that was called 'Immemorial Day - No Peace for Militarized U.S', and I decided to copy it here as I think it is important to each and every active member of the United States Military forces to remember, no matter what branch of the military you may be in.

The admin of this site may not agree with my opinions here, as I have taken a very dim view of some of the actions of our government as of late, so if you want to delete it, feel free to do so. I just want all of you combat people to understand this. If you find yourself in a firefight, look around you. It's not your country you are defending while you are actively fighting, it is your dear friends in uniform standing beside you, and if they pay the ultimate sacrifice to help keep you alive, I will guarantee you that their souls will remain with you forever.

... Memorial day, for me at least, is for we combat veterans to remember all our friends that we lost in a war that we shared together. I hear on TV, Radio, and on the Internet how 'do-gooder' people are constantly saying that people must honor this nation's fallen heroes. Well, they are not this nation's fallen heroes, they belong only to us.

It took me a long time to reconcile the deaths of so many of my friends in Vietnam, but I did so eventually, not by anything that civilians did, but by realizing that they didn't die for their country anymore than I would have if the Viet Cong drove a bullet through my head in 1968. By telling people that they died for their country, the stinking government has been able to get parents to justify their kid's death at the hands of maniacs whose only goal was to secure their own position of power by throwing their children into the meat grinder of barbarism.

The truth is they died for me, and gave their life for every other combat vet that ever returned home from a theater of war. Had it not been for these guys putting their lives on the line with those of us who did come back, we wouldn't be here now and we all owe them our lives a thousand times over. I know they would be feeling the same way about us if our roles were reversed. So, Memorial Day is a very special occasion for me. I don't go out; I don't celebrate; I don't have a picnic, and I don't stand around a monument listening to the same politicians who sent them to their death say a bunch of bulls**t to make everybody feel good. I stay home by myself and remember the good times we had together. I try my best to remember all of the hopes and dreams they wanted to accomplish when they came back to the 'real world', and I analyze the actions I've taken in my own life over the past year to ensure that I have not done anything that will bring dishonor upon them, or their memory.

Since December of 1968, Memorial day has become one of the most important Sabbath days in my entire life; one that I shall never forget, and the tears that fall down my cheek every year is proof of that, particularly when I play the CD soundtrack from the movie "Pearl Harbor". I was with the 25th Infantry Division, the same one that was stationed at Schofield Barracks on O'ahu on December 7th, 1941, and I was attached to the 23rd Infantry Regiment within it, called the 'Tomahawks', composed of the finest men I have ever known. We come from a long line of others that came before us who had an illustrious history of courage and bravery. They fought at the Civil War battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness and Petersburg. They were on Omaha beach on D-Day during WWII, and they stood their ground when the a**h***s running the United States Government let them during the 1968 TET offensive. The list of those who died to enable their friends to return home from events caused by governments seeking power at our expense is so long that it should be a disgrace to all humanity. Every one of them are all here with me on this day and it is not a burden; it was a legitimate honor to serve with them. It is a bond of lineage that very few civilians can ever understand, so this day is, indeed, immemorial to them, but not to those of us who understand and respect it.

RIP my friends! This song represents the peace I hope you have found, a peace that someday I hope to share with you. You will never be forgotten, at least, not in my house!